Dr. Theresa Maresca

Theresa Maresca, Mohawk, in addressing historical trauma describes it as the effects following the changes that that resulted from “the coming of visitors who were not necessarily respectful of our way of being, our ways of life and our spirituality.”

The changes were pervasive, affecting the lives of Native people – the flora and fauna, the geography and recognized homeland, and way of life of those people. While a member of the Mohawk tribe, Theresa describes how her own grandmother fought to lay claim to her Mohawk tribal identity, resulting from the political border established during the colonialization of North America; a concept artificial to the Mohawk families who were the traditional cohabitants of this region.